The Toxic Teacher

As a student of dance, as a dancer, as a teacher, you are not alone. As soon as you enter a dance class, you are entering a community whose energy, focus, goals, and culture is unique to itself. While it shares certain elements with other performing arts communities, the dance culture is unique unto itself. It is composed of well-known and obscure dance forms. It has people in it of all races, genders, ages, body shape, ambitions, levels of expertise… there are those who want to remain in a class forever, and those who want to perform on stage. There are those who are just beginning their dance journey and there are those who are preparing to leave their dance journey.

Every student of every dance form represents this community, and the community thrives or struggles, enjoys a positive reputation or is taken down, by the actions of each person within the community. This is why so many teachers and studios have codes of conduct posted in their classrooms and studio walls. Public perception of any dance form is critical to its success and/or acceptance within the wider community.

Within that community, each dance form has a culture and a history of its own, too. Each dance form will have a story of its creation; within each dance form will be those who created the dance form, those with decades of experience, beginners and advanced students; it will have protégées and prodigies, heroes and villains, mentors who lift students up and ego-driven students and teachers who pull others down.

And among the villains, the toxic teacher has the most detrimental impact.

So what makes a teacher toxic?

There are 11 major things to look out for- if you see a teacher who exhibits there behaviors, be cautious. She might have some good things to teach you in terms of dance, but she can ruin your joy and full experience of the dance community:

The toxic teacher:

1) discourages you from participating in workshops that would benefit your level, abilities and interests (Good teachers want you to improve, try new methods, explore what other teachers have to offer)

2) avoids dancing with certain people due to a personal conflict. (The good teacher models  how to put aside personal feelings for the good of the community and/or a positive event)

3 ) dismisses or denigrates a sponsor or producer of an event, or the event itself, because there is a guideline limiting the styles allowed or the music allowed. (A good teacher knows that events often have specific audiences targeted, or want to showcase a particular dance form or style; a good teacher knows that watching can be as valuable as performing)

4) teaches or performs the same material repeatedly regardless of the student or audience needs (A good teacher knows that class materials may have to be adapted to student needs, and the audience needs are what drive the design of a show, not the needs of the teacher)

5) continues to espouse or teach something even when she discovers she was incorrectly informed or teaching it incorrectly, simply because she “wants to” or because “that’s the way I learned it” (A good teacher corrects herself when she discovers she has been in error)

6) neglects to continue learning or developing her performance or teaching skills (A good  teacher knows she is always a student and there is always more to learn)
7) fails to encourage- or actively discourages- students attending other teacher’s classes or performance events (A good teacher knows it is important to expose her students to other ideas, dance techniques and performance concepts)

8) denigrates or “bashes” other dancers or teachers in order to discourage her students or fellow dancers from supporting others, and if a student does start classes with another teacher, that student then becomes the subject of her attacks. (Caution: We know there are poor teachers in the dance community. It is legitimate for a good teacher to encourage her students to attend some workshops or classes, without bashing a workshop or teacher of lesser quality. It is legitimate for teachers to discuss members of the teaching fraternity in private, away from their students, especially if there are real concerns about a teacher.  But if your teacher bashes another teacher or event to her students, it may well be that she doesn’t want you, her student, to find out what she doesn’t know! In other words, the toxic teacher denigrates or discourages you from taking a workshop of classes from another teacher because she is concerned that her students might go study elsewhere, or is concerned that the holes in her own dance education might show)

9) refuses to collaborate with other dancers or teachers in her area. (A good teacher knows the dance community does better when teachers work together to build support for the arts, to build public interest in their events.)

10) doesn’t make any effort to educate her students regarding the understanding of dance as a community or educational pursuit. (The good teacher knows it is important for her students to understand the differences between events (recitals, haflas, shows, showcases, etc) and dance styles, she understands the business side of dance and has an organized curriculum, follows established dance standards, and helps her students achieve their individual goals in dance. The good teacher keeps a development plan for each student and designs lessons to help her students achieve their individual goals)

11) and finally, the toxic teacher is so eager to promote herself that she puts her students into public performances before they are at a performance-ready level, before they have developed proper performance skills, (The good teacher knows that recitals and haflas are where students hone their skills, not in public shows)

Most of us are lucky enough to find good teachers, whose goals are to help students achieve their goals, train students to a performance ready level, and prepare some students to become professional dancers or teachers in their own right, with a full understanding of dance as an art and a craft…

But not everyone who teaches has the best interests of their students or the dance community in mind.. the best advice for students? Be observant, listen carefully and make your assessment based on what you see and hear.

Portions of this article were taken from The Dance Mindset, © 2016 Prima Beladi/Ne-Kajira Jannan